Inside Danish Ceramic Brand’s Unique World

Studio Arhoj

Copenhagen-based Anders Arhoj is the mind behind the whimsical, humorous, and fun creations of the eponymously named ceramics label, Studio Arhoj.

While the independent brand may have started as a niche secret in the ceramics and arts-and-crafts community, the recent homeware boom has lofted Studio Arhoj into retailers and houses worldwide. The brand is most commonly known for its Ghost collection, which was the basis of Studio Arhoj’s early success starting in 2011. After years of experimenting with color, form, and material, Arhoj himself started to carve out his own unique space in the ceramics industry, leading to the success of Studio Arhoj today.

While the foundation of the brand is still its cutesy ceramic offerings, Arhoj has since branched out into products like glassware, soft goods like blankets, and many more products that span between functional and ornamental.

Below, we chat with Anders Arhoj himself about how the brand started, and what is to come.

Hej hej Anders! First up, can you tell us about your background and education that set the scene for you to establish your own studio?

I am a first-generation graduate of Denmark’s multimedia design education and I worked my first years at the youth and kids department at the Danish National Broadcasting Corporation. It was a fun place where I designed kids’ TV show titles, lots of flash animations, and loads of websites. Later I moved to Japan and studied Japanese

Where does the Studio Arhoj story begin? Tell us about your original inspiration to start the brand.

I initially started my own design studio where I used to work as a graphic designer until I grew tired of accommodating other people’s requests and wishes. Everything I designed for websites seemed to disappear again from the surface of the earth after a few years as if you’d never made it. I found it a waste of time for petty money.

Then I started to hang around craftspeople: ceramicists, glass blowers, and weavers, and I realized their work actually stayed in the world. I began to experiment with clay with different ceramicists and l founded Studio Arhoj as a physical clay studio in 2013.

What are the main designs that you feel Studio Arhoj is known for?

Possibly the Ghosts, the little clay figurines that are hand thrown, each and every one, and glazed uniquely. We’ve kept the approximate same price for ten years as it must be kept as an affordable piece of Danish arts and crafts for everyone.

Or maybe the Chug Mug which is a soft-to-the-touch porcelain mug with a handle in over 40 different glazes.

But in general, we make many different things during the year and it’s hard to predict what is sold and what fans and customers like.

Studio Arhoj seems to have a lot of personality as a brand, how do you think it stands out from other ceramic brands?

I don’t know if we stand so much out after ten years. When I started, most ceramics in stores were not very colorful, and that has definitely changed.

I think a small design studio whose output and ideas mostly come from one person with a close circle of people around him helps create a stronger brand and not a “What’s hot this season?” strategy. We don’t follow trend seminars or analyze the market, we mostly do what we feel is fun and make what we want in our own home at the moment.

It might also help that we’re a generation from the 1980s with its colorful TV shows, bright music, odd fashion, and super mainstream commercialism. And then at the same time a product of the 1990s indie scenes. This means the stuff we love is both super underground and mega mainstream at the same time.

As the brand has grown, what kind of new collections or products have you started to offer?

I started with clay and some graphic prints. After our move into downtown Copenhagen in 2020 we started a glass-blowing department, and we’re now an actual design studio working and developing products in clay, glass, metals, blankets, rugs, soap, incense, graphic prints, and now lamps!

Do you have any personal favorites that you have in your home?

I have a lot of prototypes in my home, and some of them never happened to see the light of day. I like to swap out and test new ideas and models at home to experience if this mug is actually nice to sip coffee from or whether a lamp gives off the right glow.

But the object I use the most is our hand-thrown Spring Bowl in stoneware for my morning oatmeal. It’s the perfect size for a meal and everything looks good when served in it.

What are your future ambitions for the brand?

A company must move forward, otherwise it dies. And so we will continue to develop and grow into new departments that work with other materials and ideas that make it interesting to go to work every day.